Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Tragically and unforgivably, as of yesterday 851 United States troops have died in Iraq so far this year. This total is already higher than the 849 troop fatalities suffered by US forces in all of 2004, which, up until now, had held the record as the deadliest year of the war.

Compounding the senselessness of it all is this quote from today's New York Times:

"Military officials attribute the rise this year to an expanded troop presence during the so-called surge, which brought more than 165,000 troops to Iraq, and sent units out of large bases and into more dangerous communities."

So the surge, which was supposed to usher in a new era of stability in Iraq, has only resulted in increasing the number of US troops killed there.

These casualties make it only more pressing that Democratic members of the House and Senate finally act to restrain the Bush administration's folly in their conduct of the Iraq war. Many proposals have been advanced during the past five years, but the time has come to pass measures carrying the force of law to require the administration to change course in Iraq and produce either a political solution or redeployment of US combat forces. The current strategy, or, rather, lack thereof, is not worth continuing at the cost of a single additional American casualty.

1 comment:

Sad news. You might be interested in the Wounded Warriors Project. It's a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness for U.S. troops severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. It really puts a face on the cost of this conflict. Here's a link: